This is a continuation on how to handle ECL characters for a game that starts at low level. One suggestion I had was to dock the character with ECL a portion of their XP until their level (with ECL) was in line with the level of the other players.

So, for instance, you could dock a character 50% XP until they had "paid" for the ECL. Once they paid for the ECL, you reset their XP to "recover" the docked XP and start adding their ECL + class level for effective level on the charts.

An example might make this more clear:
Assume the dock penalty is 50%. Bob is a human and Sam is an ECL+1 planetouched human.

The two characters are awarded 1000 XP
Bob gets his full 1000 and is now 2nd level. Sam gets 500 and is still first level.

They get another 1000 XP
Bob is at 2000 XP, still 3rd level. Sam is now at 1000 XP and makes 2nd level and is still getting XP at 50%

They get 4000 XP:
Bob is at 6K XP and hits 4th level. Sam is at 3000 XP and makes 3rd level. Furthermore, he is now one full level behind Bob and no longer pays the XP penalty.

At this point, we convert Sam to the normal method of tracking XP for ECL characters: he gets his "docked" XP back and now has 6000 XP (like Bob) just considers his character level as the class level (3) + the ECL level (1). Or, could just continue as if he lost the 3000XP and doesn't have an ECL but that favors the character with ECL since by later levels,the lost 3000XP is a lot less than one level.

I worked up a chart of ECL versus dock amount to determine how many levels it takes before the character with ECL has "paid for" his ECL. The chart shows at what level for folks without ECL the ECL character has paid for his ECL. (I.e., at level of Bob has Sam paid for his ECL. For example, for ECL 2, 25% dock, Bob will be level 14 and Sam level 12 before Sam has paid for his ECL. For ECL 2 and 50% dock, Bob will be level 6 and Sam level 4 before he has paid for his ECL.)

ECL

25%

50%

75%

1

7

3

2

2

14

6

3

3

8

4

4

11

5

5

6

6

7

7

8

So, 25% is probably too low a penalty. Takes forever to pay back your ECL.
But 50% or 75% is probably okay. 75% is probably frustrating for the character with high ECL but it is a way to allow very high ECLs and if their ECL is giving them extra HP and BAB then they certainly are getting quite the benefit compared to some first level toon.

I'd suggest 50% dock if the ECLs in the draft are 1 or 2; that way they will have paid for it by level 7 which could still be over a year into the campaign. If there are higher ECLs, it needs to be a higher dock otherwise they may never pay for it during the game.

If you liked this basic method but still found it confusing to explain, we could create alternate XP tables for players that still captures this concept of a dock but translates into an alternate XP table for them. Probably less confusing. For instance, for 50% dock, the table would look like:

Level

0

1

2

2

1000

2000

2000

3

3000

6000

6000

4

6000

10000

12000

5

10000

15000

20000

6

15000

21000

28000

7

21000

28000

36000

8

28000

36000

45000

Looks like there is an error in my earlier table. Converting to a XP chart for each allowed ECL is probably best and clearest but we can explain the underlying mechanism as a 50% (or whatever it is) dock until the ECL is paid for. I think for high ECLs, the high ECL characters will have a decided advantage early in the game but you could start the game a little higher level to compensate.

How high an ECL were you considering? Since both of us don't like the book ECL, one option might be to use one less ECL than is given in the book but give 0 ECL characters an extra feat and skill (i.e., make all zero ECL toons have the human benefit and humans get an extra benefit.)

The previous table is fine but it does keep the ECL>0 characters in lock step, at least until they are "paid" for their ECL. (For example, the ECL 1 and ECL 2 characters both hit level 2 at the same time.) With custom charts per ECL, could increase the level 2 XP for the ECL 2 guy to 3000 for instance.

I like this method … the alternate XP table removes the math on a session by session basis which is nice. I wasn't sure on what ECL characters I might add … when I was looking through the figures, there are winged creatures (both fey and demonic); there are larger figures … half-giants / half-dragons. So, maybe just +2 … but I'm glad we started thinking about how to handle the XP, because starting lower level would be fun. I'd hate for the ECL characters to have a major advantage for too long. With the game being more of a roleplaying game as well, there could be racial stereotypes that could help balance the ECL characters as well.

Does 50% seem okay for the dock amount? I could work up a chart to +3 ECL. I think that would cover what you have in mind, especially if you drop the book ECLs a little in return for some racial goodies. Would basically extend the chart above one column.

I might need +3 … 50% seems fine for +1 and +2, not sure about +3 though … they might have an advantage for too long at 50% … increasing / decreasing the penalty such that each ECL class above +1 is penalized for 6 levels seems about right.

Both of these seem pretty reasonable … hard to know how players will react, but ECL +3 should come w/ some pretty harsh penalties … they will be completely dominant during the early levels (especially if they have some spell-like abilities that give them access to something that another caster won't see for 5 - 7 levels).

I think the second table is probably better. I can create the first of the character pages to cover this topic and we can continue dicsussion/ changes there. Give me a chance to try out the per page discussion option :)